Chris Toepfer was born in New York City and grew up in Newtown, Connecticut and Schenectady, New York. His parents were both artists who met while working at Raymond Loewy design firm in New York. Trips as a kid to his fathers’ studio on East 44th street sewed the seed for a future as an artist. After studying computer programming at the State University of New York at Albany, Chris completed Officer training with the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot, and then moved to Seattle to work in rapidly growing software industry. After relocating to Chicago from Seattle, Chris began the think about more artistic endeavors. One idea was to combine art to help deal with challenges in neighborhoods with large disinvestment, unemployment, and vacant buildings. What if there was a way to use art to help make neighborhoods safer and more pleasant to live in? This idea was the genesis of something called decorative board-up, which is an attractive way to secure vacant buildings. Panels are painted to look like windows and doors, and often contain artwork. The Neighborhood Foundation was created to bring this idea to life. Today, the Neighborhood Foundation works to help cities around the country that have large numbers of vacant buildings. Much of the work done in cities is completed by local residents who have struggled to find work and support themselves. In the 2010 Chris completed the MFA program in painting and drawing at the Art Institute of Chicago. Chris currently lives in both Chicago and the Miller Beach neighborhood of Gary, Indiana with his partner Marcy. He also has a 28-year-old son William who has recently finished serving in the Army as an Infantry Officer. Chris hopes William will follow is fathers’ artistic impulses when he is ready.
